The Wire with Castor

Aneeka talks to National Board Member and Arable Chairperson of Federated Farmers New Zealand, Colin Hurst, about the widespread damage to arable crops currently faced by farmers. This has been a result of three weeks of unseasonable, intermittent rain followed by Cyclone Dovi which is having a huge impact on this harvest season. 

Korehāhā Whakahau is an iwi led project which seeks to eradicate possums from 4700 hectare within the Ngāti Awa rohe over a five-year period. This project is supported by Predator Free 2050 Ltd which is a Crown-owned, charitable company established to help deliver the New Zealand government’s ambitious goal of eradicating possums, stoats and rats by 2050.

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Karla Akuhata, the Communications and Engagement Advisor for Korehāhā Whakahau,about what the Korehāhā Whakahau project entails. They also discuss the group's planned wānanga that aims to amplify the voice, role and leadership of Mana Whenua in the work being done towards a predator free Aotearoa. 

Please check out Predator Free 2050 Ltd to see what opportunities are out there to help New Zealand meet the government's predator free goals. 

Tonight at 11:59pm New Zealand will move to Phase Two of the government’s response to the Omicron outbreak. This does not make any difference to the red setting rules regarding access to public spaces, wearing masks in public, and contact tracing. Instead, this new phase will reduce isolation periods and narrow the meaning of a close contact. 

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Lesley Gray from the University of Otago Wellington and Dr Dion O’Neale who is the Project Lead for Covid Modelling Aotearoa about what Phase Two actually means. They also discuss how New Zealanders should be responding to the increase in daily Covid-19 cases and whether the country is prepared for a shift to Phase Two. 

The Ukraine crisis has been making international headlines for some weeks now. Most recently, thousands of Russian troops have positioned themselves on the border with Ukraine, NATO has increased their number of troops in Eastern Europe with the support of the US and the UK, and there has been a lot of talk about Russian invasion. However, Russia has consistently denied that they will invade and Ukrainan officials have called for the West to stop predicting an invasion because it is scaring people.

Rouben Azizian is a professor at Massey University in Security Studies and News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to him about the state of the Ukranian crisis right now. They also discuss the 'surface-level' media coverage of the crisis, whether Azizian believes Russia will actually invade, and what help Western powers are in finding a solution to a very long-standing, complex, violent relationship between Ukraine and Russia.